Loans go sour in Canyon County housing venture

She's not even a year old, but she has already taken on the slopes at Bogus Basin

Boise State TE Jake Roh hopes to fight injury to play in Las Vegas Bowl

Gov. Otter discusses legislative session

Gov. Butch Otter holds his annual post session briefing with reporters. He declined to comment on legislation now awaiting his signature, including a transportation funding bill and the repeal of the grocery sales tax.

Gov. Butch Otter holds his annual post session briefing with reporters. He declined to comment on legislation now awaiting his signature, including a transportation funding bill and the repeal of the grocery sales tax. Bill Dentzerbdentzer@idahostatesman.com

Gov. Butch Otter holds his annual post session briefing with reporters. He declined to comment on legislation now awaiting his signature, including a transportation funding bill and the repeal of the grocery sales tax. Bill Dentzerbdentzer@idahostatesman.com

Grocery tax repeal: Gov. Otter won’t say whether he’ll veto bill

Citing at least $30 million in new winter-related road damage, Gov. Butch Otter Monday made clear he opposed the grocery sales tax repeal that lawmakers approved this year because of the loss of state revenues, but would not say whether he would veto it.

Otter earlier expressed opposition to lifting the 6 percent sales tax on store-bought food, which carries a roughly $75 million effect on state tax collections. He has until April 12 to take action.

“We right now have 32 counties under a disaster declaration in the state,” Otter told reporters in a post-session briefing Monday afternoon. He added that the state’s request for federal disaster assistance, based on widespread flooding around the state, had been turned down. The state is appealing the decision.

“If this weather turns warm, which it’s likely to do, if we have additional rain, which we are likely to have...then that flooding could get much worse,” Otter said. “I’m going to be very mindful of that in the next few days when we’re considering other legislation that I have yet to sign.”

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To offset the sales tax on food, Idaho issues an annual grocery tax credit. The bill does away with both the credit and the tax, with a staggered implementation that delays the full financial impact until July 2018 .

Advocates argued that repealing the tax on food sales would lift a burden from the poor and would stop people in border communities from crossing state lines to do their shopping in sales tax-free states, meaning higher sales and more jobs.

“I see no reason to change our current system and I oppose efforts to do so,” the governor wrote.

Otter overall gave the session an “A” grade, with some important areas “incomplete.” Most notably, Otter criticized the Legislature for failing to pass a reduction in the unemployment tax employers pay. A bill that would have done so got caught up in the back-and-forth over other tax cuts and eventually died.

The governor called the action a “no-brainer” and said a clean bill “would have sailed through (the Legislature) like you can’t believe.”

Just after the governor’s briefing. Lt. Gov. Brad Little, who is running to succeed Otter in 2018, issued a statement in support of the grocery tax repeal, saying it would “quickly make Idaho’s tax code more competitive.” Another candidate for governor, Russ Fulcher, also has endorsed the repeal.

▪ Commerce: Funding to lobby Air Force to base F-35 squadron in Boise; authorizing negotiations for state to purchase Hewlett-Packward campus in Boise for state offices; approve bonding authority for proposed Cybercore and collaborative computing center at Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho Falls.

Loans go sour in Canyon County housing venture

She's not even a year old, but she has already taken on the slopes at Bogus Basin

Boise State TE Jake Roh hopes to fight injury to play in Las Vegas Bowl

'No workplace is immune' to harassment, says former state worker behind tort claim

Lourdes Matsumoto says she was subjected to a variety of sexual and racial harassment and other concerning behavior by a supervisor at the Idaho State Controller's Office. Dec. 8, 2017, a day after announcing her claim against the state was settled, she spoke about the bigger picture of sexual harassment across the country and about the #metoo movement. "I think it's really important that employers do the right thing, and they take employee reports seriously and do honest investigations and really look at what's in the best interests of protecting their employees when it comes to harassment and discrimination."